Residents wary of Burton Towers management

Monday

Aug 27, 2007 at 2:00 AM

City of Newburgh — There's never been anything fancy about Burton Towers. No golf, no swank dining hall. It's been more like a retirement home for friends of Ebenezer Baptist, the traditionally black city church that built it.

John Doherty

City of Newburgh — There's never been anything fancy about Burton Towers. No golf, no swank dining hall. It's been more like a retirement home for friends of Ebenezer Baptist, the traditionally black city church that built it.

For three decades, the eight-story Towers has been what it was planned to be: a frills-free collection of small, cheap apartments for Newburgh's working-class elderly and disabled poor.

And demand has always been high. Newburghers looking to land a one-bedroom in the 125-unit complex have had to wait months or more for a spot. Being a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, which built the Towers in the late 1970s, could speed things along.

But in recent months, residents say, developments at the Towers have them worried big changes are on the way.

"Everything is so secretive now. Why?" asked resident Callie Wilson, a retired city schoolteacher. "It's never been run like this."

Residents — most of whom asked that their names not be used — say a new management company at Burton Towers has racked up a raft of complaints: uneven rent increases, broken elevators that have trapped elderly residents, and an unresponsive on-site manager.

But most worrisome, they say, are the vacancies. Some 20 apartments at the Towers remain unoccupied, despite the traditionally packed waiting list.

"They're raising rents, but we have all these vacancies," said one 80-year-old woman last week. "How are you going to make any money?"

Residents say they fear the new management company, LWC of New York City, might be readying a fundamental change for the Towers: renting to a different clientele.

LWC said it is indeed planning big changes — most of which residents will likely cheer. But the intensely local feel of Burton Towers will also likely be lost.

"When we took over, the Towers were in major disrepair," said Peggie Wardell, one of LWC's founding partners.

Since November, LWC has been working to get Burton Towers in compliance with regulations from the federal Housing and Urban Development agency.

All Towers residents receive a rent subsidy from HUD in one form or another and are also required to contribute 30 percent of their own income — whether from Social Security, a pension or welfare.

Wardell said the building itself has structural problems, and that many of the now-empty apartments are simply unlivable.

"We're right now looking into refinancing to undertake a major capital improvement program," she said.

Residents can expect other changes.

For years, the Towers has had its own rules for choosing who on the extensive waiting list gets in.

"I don't know how they did it," said Wardell. "But the thing about HUD and senior housing is that you can apply from anywhere. You can get on this waiting list form Wisconsin or wherever."

From now on, new residents will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis.

That means fewer city tenants who are congregants of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

"I've never seen a complex with so many families, brothers, sisters, aunts," said Wardell.